(AgProfessional) – Financial market uncertainty affected commodities again Thursday night. Concerns about forthcoming Fed action and the economic outlook seemed to hit equity index futures last night, although the U.S. dollar stabilized somewhat in the wake yesterday’s dive. The dollar drop supported corn prices yesterday, but yellow grain quotes slipped again overnight. Traders seem more worried about large supplies than late plantings at this point.
May corn futures slipped 1.0 cent at $3.7525/bushel early Friday morning, while December sagged 1.5 to $398.75.
Beans and meal outperformed oil overnight. Although futures didn’t react quickly, Thursday’s USDA Export Sales report seemed rather bullish for soybean and meal values. They posted a belated rally late in yesterday’s
session and continue rising last night. In contrast, overnight energy market losses seemed to drag soyoil futures downward once again. May soybean futures stalled at $9.66/bushel shortly after dawn Friday, while
May soyoil slid 0.09 cents to 31.67 cents/pound, and May meal added $0.7 to $313.1/ton.
Wheat futures continued trading mixed overnight. Speculative/hedge buying seemed to boost Chicago wheat Thursday, whereas improved rainfall prospects apparently weighed on the KC and Minneapolis markets. We suspect fund short-covering is supporting CBOT wheat futures, but also suspect the latest weather models point to diminished short-term rainfall over the winter wheat areas. May CBOT wheat rose 0.5 cent to $4.95/bushel Thursday night, and May KC wheat gained 2.5 cents to $5.1075/bushel, but May MWE wheat skidded 0.5 to $5.345.
Cattle futures traded firmly Thursday. Deeply discounted CME cattle prices posted a big technical surge to start this week, but proved unable to top short-term moving average resistance Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday beef strength boosted futures yesterday, but uncertainty about this week’s cash action probably limited gains. Beef slippage posted Thursday afternoon doesn’t bode particularly well for today’s opening. June
cattle futures rallied 0.32 cents to 152.00 cents/pound at Thursday’s Chicago close, while August cattle advanced 0.67 to 149.67 cents/pound. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle futures climbed 0.57 cents to 213.00
cents/pound, and August feeders lifted 0.45 to 214.67.
Recent spot gains supported CME hogs. The large premiums built into Chicago hog prices may make sustained spring advances somewhat difficult. Conversely, life gets easier for bulls if the cash and wholesale markets
are surging. Spot gains Wednesday afternoon powered yesterday’s sizeable CME gains. However, late-Thursday quotes were weak, thereby implying a weak Friday morning opening. June hog futures surged 0.90 cents to 76.37 cents/pound at Thursday’s settlement, while December jumped 1.00 to 68.40.
Cotton sustained Thursday’s late bounce. Yesterday’s export data proved bearish, since reported new sales fell short of cancellations last week. That triggered a big ICE futures sell-off, with the nearby contracts
testing major support around their 40-day moving averages soon thereafter. They later bounced, with buyers being helped by concurrent U.S. dollar losses. Prices remained firm overnight despite a dearth of cotton news.
May cotton inched up 0.09 cents to 64.10 cents/pound in early Friday trading, while December futures rose 0.05 to 64.67.
